OPUS: Trophic Interactions, Plant Quality, and the Integration of Above and Belowground Processes

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Plants, animals, and microbes vary in features such as their physical structure and their chemistry. This kind of variation in important because it influences how organisms interact with each other and how they affect the environment around them. Plants are a good example of this because they vary dramatically in their structure and in the chemistry of their tissues. This is why, for example, humans can eat corn but not oak leaves. Variation in plant quality determines what tissues can be eaten and by whom. All animals and microbes on land either consume plant tissues or consume other organisms that do. Consequently, variation in the quality of plant tissue is central to ecological processes on land. Plant quality can influence two kinds of ecological processes. First, plant chemistry influences the growth and abundance of herbivores and predators. Second, plant chemistry influences the rate at which nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus become available in the soil. Therefore, plant chemistry links processes above ground (like herbivory) with processes below ground (like nutrient availability). A critical point here is that these links are dynamic. When herbivores chew leaves, leaf chemistry changes, influencing how nutrients become available in soil. Conversely, soil nutrients influence the chemistry of plants and therefore interactions between herbivores and predators. These are key pathways of feedback that link together ecological processes above and below ground. The proposed work will integrate over 25 years of research on this topic by the PI. By synthesizing and integrating work across many environments (forests, prairie, deserts, agricultural fields), the PI will help to unify studies of ecological processes above and below ground, and examine common features among habitats. A new synthetic framework will be developed for future work that links ecological processes at different scales.The synthesis will be published in volumes broadly accessible to researchers and students of ecology. Links will be emphasized to issues of societal importance including crop pest management, invasive species management, and conservation biology. New courses will be developed for graduate and undergraduate students and workshops will foster participation by under-represented groups.